Fall Garden Cleanup

Welcome back.  It's hard to believe but the growing season is officially over, at least for most vegetables here in Central New York.  This Summer went by quickly and Fall is definitely in the air.  We have had multiple killing frosts, with the low temperature so far being 25 degrees on September 21st (actually still Summer).

The Fall garden cleanup process is a daunting task but it goes fairly quickly once you decide to tackle it.  By this time of year, we often let the garden go and it gets overgrown with weeds and remaining vegetation.  It is important to "clean house" to get the garden ready for Spring planting.  Leaving the mess until Spring will most likely discourage you from planting next season.

Not only will the garden look better, but it will also allow a chance for the soil to be enhanced by some methods I will describe in future posts.

As you can see, these photos show that a great deal of work needs to be done to get the gardens into shape.  The upper garden (top photo) shows that where the potatoes were dug was already in good shape.  The following photos show the gardens after the cleanup process and one of the cartful of garden debris indicating how much vegetation remains at the end of the growing season.

As you can see, there are some veggies remaining in the gardens that are cold hardy.  In my next post, I will cover which vegetables remain and also garden soil enhancement.  Thanks for reading.